Nationally, hepatitis C virus (HCV) outstrips HIV by about 10 to 1 in sheer numbers of inmates infected. Even so, controversy and confusion surround the management of HCV in correctional settings, while HIV testing and treatment is now relatively routine. This controversy stems from debate about the "best time" to treat HCV, and whether HCV treatment should begin to be included in the correctional health care budget or whether the cost should be borne by the public health sector.

While the debate about HCV treatment in corrections continues, significant advances in the treatment of HCV have occurred, and a number of correctional systems are taking advantage of this opportunity to intervene. Will improved care and accelerated implementation of the new therapies lead to diminished health care costs in years to come? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, education, testing, and prevention must be paramount. As has been observed for HIV, programs that test and educate inmates about HCV may lead to a reduction in the transmission of HCV after inmates are released into the community.

CONTINUE...
 

• HCV Epidemiology
• Inmates at Risk
• Targeted Screening
• Who Should Get Treated?
• Shifting Standards for Treatment of HCV
• Expect Delays
• Length of Treatment
• Expected Outcome
• Liver Biopsy
• HIV/HCV Coinfection
• HIV/HCV Response Therapy
• Cost of Treatment
• Management
• New Guidelines for Corrections
• Conclusion
• References
• Figures 1, 2 & 3
• Box 1 & 2
• Tables 1 & 2

HEPP News is published twelve times a year by the: HIV Education/Prison Project at the Brown University AIDS Program Box G-B426 Brown University Providence, Rhode Island 02912 401-863-2180 fax 401-863-1243 heppnews@brown.edu